I got a message from my best friend today. Her husband's cousin just 35, was going to meet his mom and it was late, he didn't want to drive as he was too sleepy so he decided to call a cab. On the way to the airport the taxi rammed into a stationary truck killing both.
She asked me how does a family deal with such a thing. I didn't know what to say.
This was my reply
Dear Bis
Death is so difficult for the ones left behind - it seems so arbitrary and sudden. I just don't know what to say - it's a concept that cannot be grasped as its not possible to experience it first then talk about it, at best it can just be mourned. I can't even begin to imagine what his mother must be going through. I am so sorry for the whole family.
It seems so senseless that we have to make plans when we don't even know about tomorrow. I think in that way human beings are really brave - noble even.
At first I used to think that we were arrogant to make plans when we didn't know what tomorrow could bring forth, but now I think we are courageous. God has put forth the most difficult task on our shoulders. He EXPECTS us to live, to make plans all the while knowing that all those plans can come to naught the next second.
My condolences again :(
So how do we do it?
Note: Death and the concept of death holds for people who don't believe in God as well - so what are your opinions?
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Erratic Much?
Hey everyone - have been really erratic with my blogging and looks like the coming two weeks are going to be insane. So I apologize for not commenting the way I do normally, as well as taking so long to reply to the comments left behind. Hopefully things should settle down soon. I miss not having time for my blog :(
Edited to add:- Before I forget again I must thank Blur and Michelle for giving me the 'Nice Matters' Award and also apologize for taking so long to say thank you. Marzie had given me this award earlier on and I had thanked her, but thank you again:)
And thank you to Titania for the 'You Make me Smile' award.
Well! Getting it made me smile:)
Warning :another postcard coming up........ *grins sheepishly*
Edited to add:- Before I forget again I must thank Blur and Michelle for giving me the 'Nice Matters' Award and also apologize for taking so long to say thank you. Marzie had given me this award earlier on and I had thanked her, but thank you again:)
And thank you to Titania for the 'You Make me Smile' award.
Well! Getting it made me smile:)
Warning :another postcard coming up........ *grins sheepishly*
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
I posted this on Paisley's wonderful blog called The Ink Pot, which I think is simply fabulous. I love contributing to it...
So today I though I'd publish the postcard version of the poem here. As you all know by now that I have a personality disorder bordering on obsessive-compulsive and indeed making postcards has joined the list of my various obsessions.
So today I though I'd publish the postcard version of the poem here. As you all know by now that I have a personality disorder bordering on obsessive-compulsive and indeed making postcards has joined the list of my various obsessions.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Nonsense Story Meme
Twisted Sisters from Twisted Sister...totally pissed off tagged me with this “nonsense story meme…”
I checked it out on their site and was laughing at the story - a much needed laugh. It is a clever meme which does not center around a person. It's a wacky story and its fun.
Here are the rules from Gracie’s site.
1. Copy and paste the story below, and the rules, on your blog.
2. Find out who you’re going to tag. (2-3 people, or more, if you wish)
3. Write one or two sentences to continue the story, and use the titles of the blogs you’re tagging or any word(s) associated with them as keywords in the links you include in your part of the story.
4. Remember to tell your taggees that you’ve tagged them!
5. Feel free to use this and start your own viral link story. I’d very much appreciate a link back to Mother’s Home! if you do. (Or a tag, if you prefer!)Here’s the beginning:
The icon held all the secrets of the blogging world, and these secrets were to remain hidden for all time...
We have to climb this tree of magically changing heights to get to the dangerous land of Greg's Brain for there we can unlock the secret of the icon, the icon called Remedial Rumination - what did it mean?. They crossed amel's realm but the passageway was really dark, where is Titania Starlight when you need her we could do with some of her shining, said Meleah Rebeccah
The two of them looked at each other and then gazing into the abyss...they had an idea, an idea so brilliant....they laughed hysterically - Rubyshooz...but of course they will take us there
I checked it out on their site and was laughing at the story - a much needed laugh. It is a clever meme which does not center around a person. It's a wacky story and its fun.
Here are the rules from Gracie’s site.
1. Copy and paste the story below, and the rules, on your blog.
2. Find out who you’re going to tag. (2-3 people, or more, if you wish)
3. Write one or two sentences to continue the story, and use the titles of the blogs you’re tagging or any word(s) associated with them as keywords in the links you include in your part of the story.
4. Remember to tell your taggees that you’ve tagged them!
5. Feel free to use this and start your own viral link story. I’d very much appreciate a link back to Mother’s Home! if you do. (Or a tag, if you prefer!)Here’s the beginning:
Mother’s Home! the cave troll yelled. I have been out all day strangling chickens like CRAZY! for the evil Empress. All i want now is a MOment to myself, but i keep getting Linda talking Drivel, but that is better than a certain someone Mooing. Then suddenly what should appear but the NOT evil Empress and all her strangled chickens and Mags cooked them all up and made us a lovely cake to eat. Gracie wanted all the cake for herself but the NOT evil Empress was able to hack off a good sized slab for herself!!! Ha ha ha, Gracie belched loudly after eating all the scrumptious cake that Mags had baked and watched Callie scrappin’ with Sarge about who was gonna win Big Brother 8. Sarge started humming “Dixie,” and almost choked on the bite of cake in his mouth! So he got some coffee to go to wash down the cake. The coffee helped a bit but he had to vocalize before he started singing again so he began, “Mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi…”
…who heard him all the way from Bloggingham Palace and said, “Where is that awful noise coming from? Is there a sick wailing Wacky Mom loose in the woods?” She said, “I’ll bet Songbird can teach him to sing!” but she was busy BONDing in the desert with Kathleen who sat writing heresy in her diary. She was absolutely no help. So Mi-Mi asked Kat to put him on the PP&P list to save his sorry soul. Alas, Ralph the Airhead made a new batch but the Patti-cakes fell in Polliwog’s Pond and nobody got to eat cake after all! It was all Bee’s fault (somehow). Feeling sorry for herself, she pranced over to Odat’s for a dance but she only heard strange mumbling…That mumbling, however, resulted from The Alien Next Door trying to clone Justin Stanely’s Weblog. The meticulous and risky cloning occurred throughout several millennia, past, present, and future. Or so it seemed; no one could keep count. It was just too much. The mind-numbing years had finally sublimed the earth into a pristine Bobbarama. All well and good, said Bob, but whatever happened to the rules? Before anyone got hurt, however, enough stars fell and crashed to alert Sci-Fi Girl, who grabbed her laptop and returned to the woods, where Mimi’s Dating Profile popped up, allowing a lion to lie happily next to a lamb…
Now, the insane writer burst into the forest, kissing the dogwood and sat on the lion, spinning tales about sci-fi girl’s boyfriend, sci-fi guy, who had his eye on [her] DNA, which he was hoping to sell for anything goes. But just then the mad goat lady and the drowsey monkey pranced into the forest and sang a truly quiet symphony, which annoyed the insane writer.
“What’s that funky sound?” screamed sci-fi guy.
“Well, it sure isn’t a raspberry-latte!” grumbled the insane writer. “Get a grip, sci-fi guy! You’re my main character! I expect you to know how to split an atom! Ignore that woman and her indolent pet! Now, go and do your dastardly thing!”
Kissing the dogwood had been a lure, a trap set by the Mighty Morgan to take control of the BlogWood. Those petulant witches disguised as writers must be eradicated, them and their man slaves. She stuck her talons into the lion with A Twist and a Skewer till it rolled over and laughingly pleaded to go back to Neverland where it had been extremely happy. Her faithful followers, the Gargons grouped around her skirt folds, drooling and kissing her hem in adoration. “Here, take this poison” she commanded, “why? (asked) paisley“, the only rebel in the camp. “To blight their computers my little friends, it’s a special potion A Bit of This and a Dash of the Other“…she smiled mysteriously in her best Mae West accent and set off in search of the Englebert Humperdink Fan Club.
well they searched all over boricua in texas….till they found just write road… aha this was the place… if they could just get in the front row,, surely that was the place that screamed “flash your knickers here“… and oh yes… they would… in doing so they could only hope to distract the masses long enough for the twisted sisters to sneak in with the special potion they had cooked up………
Disguised as margarita's with colorful umbrellas, they sipped the potion while sitting in a nice place in the sun until they were laughing hysterically and begging for more comedy. Meanwhile, a random Magus roamed the woods searching for the golden icon that was being guarded by the Priory of Firefox.The icon held all the secrets of the blogging world, and these secrets were to remain hidden for all time...
We have to climb this tree of magically changing heights to get to the dangerous land of Greg's Brain for there we can unlock the secret of the icon, the icon called Remedial Rumination - what did it mean?. They crossed amel's realm but the passageway was really dark, where is Titania Starlight when you need her we could do with some of her shining, said Meleah Rebeccah
The two of them looked at each other and then gazing into the abyss...they had an idea, an idea so brilliant....they laughed hysterically - Rubyshooz...but of course they will take us there
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Monday, September 3, 2007
Intentions v/s Actions [post # 100]
Ever since Greg's comments on my 'Is there an Athena living in my Head too' post, I have been grappling with the intention vs action issue, or debate, or whatever you want to call it.
If it's our actions that make us who we are, then what happens when we do apparently 'good' things, like being kind to someone or helping others but we do it with the bad/selfish/self-serving/fake intentions?
Then in the debate of intentions vs actions which one matters more, which one makes the cut so to speak. Out of the two, thinking about doing good but not translating it into action or doing good but not with the purest of intentions at all, which one is the better or worse.
I am really puzzled by this!
P.S. Unrelated - but this is my 100th post. So I made a little postcard via my latest obsession... making postcards ;)
Zakman made me the cutest poster ever and for that I am so touched – thank you from the pit of my heart
If it's our actions that make us who we are, then what happens when we do apparently 'good' things, like being kind to someone or helping others but we do it with the bad/selfish/self-serving/fake intentions?
Then in the debate of intentions vs actions which one matters more, which one makes the cut so to speak. Out of the two, thinking about doing good but not translating it into action or doing good but not with the purest of intentions at all, which one is the better or worse.
I am really puzzled by this!
P.S. Unrelated - but this is my 100th post. So I made a little postcard via my latest obsession... making postcards ;)
Zakman made me the cutest poster ever and for that I am so touched – thank you from the pit of my heart
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Fab 4
The beautiful HollyGl tagged me with the fun, "Fab Four" meme. So here it is. I made it on the postcard site and figured out how to grab a screen on a Mac [apple, shift, and 4 - the cursor becomes a bull's eye and then you select the area and bam it's done]. The original 1 and 2 can be found in the links provided. Then I read a post by Phil from Thoughtsparks in which he had mentioned a program called Jing which did just that. Thank you, Phil.
P.S.: Are you guys having problems with Blogger as well? For some people's new posts don't show then I have to check in Technorati and access them through there.
P.S.: Are you guys having problems with Blogger as well? For some people's new posts don't show then I have to check in Technorati and access them through there.
Friday, August 31, 2007
My Interview with Mike
Hey guys! I was interviewed by Mike Thomas for his blog. It is a great blog because it introduces you to other blogs and bloggers.
Thank you Mike, it was fun!
When I saw his mail I had gone for my brother-in-law's wedding and so I did the interview when I got back. He posted it a couple of days ago, but I didn't get a chance to blog about it
It would be really cool if you guys checked it out. And I think there is a voting thing on it.
I couldn't post about it earlier as my mom-in-law is over for a week and I have been out with her all day.
The interview can be found here.
P.S.: And a note
Also, we suggest that you ask your readers to vote for your blog as
the top three will receive $50, $35, and $15 respectively at the end
of the month.
For more info visit: http://bloginterviewer.com/about
Thanks again,
Mike Thomas
Thank you Mike, it was fun!
When I saw his mail I had gone for my brother-in-law's wedding and so I did the interview when I got back. He posted it a couple of days ago, but I didn't get a chance to blog about it
It would be really cool if you guys checked it out. And I think there is a voting thing on it.
I couldn't post about it earlier as my mom-in-law is over for a week and I have been out with her all day.
The interview can be found here.
P.S.: And a note
Also, we suggest that you ask your readers to vote for your blog as
the top three will receive $50, $35, and $15 respectively at the end
of the month.
For more info visit: http://bloginterviewer.com/about
Thanks again,
Mike Thomas
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Misadventures of 2 Women & 2 Girls
To forewarn you dear reader the title is the most glamorous of the entire post, the more appropriate name for it should have been 'Blame it on the Wino. But I couldn't resist.
I will not start at the beginning but with a digression as I usually do, my new blogmate Sandip introduced me to this site where you can make postcards. So yesterday being an insomniac and not a little crazy, I stayed up all night checking out the site. Browsing my photo gallery for pictures to make an introductory postcard, I thought why not capture a mid-day-going-into-early night madness at my best friend's friends house.
She had her sister & sister-in-law over, during college holidays, so I thought we'd spend time together as they were leaving in a week's time. She picked me up Saturday before last and I took two bottles of wine thinking we'd cook and eat. Her mom and kid had gone to her brother's house so we had the house to ourselves. Well, the evening started innocently enough with her cooking and trying to teach me as well. She's an excellent cook and I, well I, just manage to get by.
We sat in her kitchen, the light was excellent, we thought we'd take some pictures. Not realizing I had not eaten the whole day, actually none of us had, we merrily sipped away at our wine as if there was no tomorrow. Very soon mild inebriation was setting in but we were still composed so to speak. Her younger brother who doesn't drink, came in gave us a disgusted look and left, because by now grown women were screaming and doing obscene things and laughing maniacally.
From the kitchen we went into the bathroom to smoke as there is no smoking in her house. Very soon my hubby [who was working on a Saturday] and hers [who had gone Scuba Diving] came back, mine before his. We insisted we wanted more wine, they desisted but could not say no.
Now drunk, food was forgotten, a lot of merriment ensued, but then her mom came back. Being wise and clever, the girls stayed in the room. I don't know what got into me [I have a problem I always think I have more control than I usually do] I actually had the nerve to go out and make polite conversation, at least try.
What a conversation, this was certainly like no less than the out of body experience that Quasar9 wrote about, when you are watching yourself make a fool of yourself and a voice inside is saying get out, get out now, yet you persist, you sit. I don't know what I was talking about so passionately and incoherently I might add, but I could see through the haze, the slightly pained expression on my husband's face, which signifies that I was just babbling.
Anyway the evening came to an end and I woke up in the morning with a hangover.
I wonder what happened to all that delicious food we cooked. And of course I have not gone to her house in two weeks...how will I face her mom again, I'm beyond mortified. But ahh! what fun was had by all!
If you want to see the postcard more clearly you can check it out the site, this was just a picture I took of it, as the posting to blog feature is not there yet - the postcard pictures
P.S: I FIGURED HOW TO TAKE A SCREEN SHOT ON MY MAC SO NOW IT'S THAT AND NOT THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE SCREEN
I will not start at the beginning but with a digression as I usually do, my new blogmate Sandip introduced me to this site where you can make postcards. So yesterday being an insomniac and not a little crazy, I stayed up all night checking out the site. Browsing my photo gallery for pictures to make an introductory postcard, I thought why not capture a mid-day-going-into-early night madness at my best friend's friends house.
She had her sister & sister-in-law over, during college holidays, so I thought we'd spend time together as they were leaving in a week's time. She picked me up Saturday before last and I took two bottles of wine thinking we'd cook and eat. Her mom and kid had gone to her brother's house so we had the house to ourselves. Well, the evening started innocently enough with her cooking and trying to teach me as well. She's an excellent cook and I, well I, just manage to get by.
We sat in her kitchen, the light was excellent, we thought we'd take some pictures. Not realizing I had not eaten the whole day, actually none of us had, we merrily sipped away at our wine as if there was no tomorrow. Very soon mild inebriation was setting in but we were still composed so to speak. Her younger brother who doesn't drink, came in gave us a disgusted look and left, because by now grown women were screaming and doing obscene things and laughing maniacally.
From the kitchen we went into the bathroom to smoke as there is no smoking in her house. Very soon my hubby [who was working on a Saturday] and hers [who had gone Scuba Diving] came back, mine before his. We insisted we wanted more wine, they desisted but could not say no.
Now drunk, food was forgotten, a lot of merriment ensued, but then her mom came back. Being wise and clever, the girls stayed in the room. I don't know what got into me [I have a problem I always think I have more control than I usually do] I actually had the nerve to go out and make polite conversation, at least try.
What a conversation, this was certainly like no less than the out of body experience that Quasar9 wrote about, when you are watching yourself make a fool of yourself and a voice inside is saying get out, get out now, yet you persist, you sit. I don't know what I was talking about so passionately and incoherently I might add, but I could see through the haze, the slightly pained expression on my husband's face, which signifies that I was just babbling.
Anyway the evening came to an end and I woke up in the morning with a hangover.
I wonder what happened to all that delicious food we cooked. And of course I have not gone to her house in two weeks...how will I face her mom again, I'm beyond mortified. But ahh! what fun was had by all!
If you want to see the postcard more clearly you can check it out the site, this was just a picture I took of it, as the posting to blog feature is not there yet - the postcard pictures
P.S: I FIGURED HOW TO TAKE A SCREEN SHOT ON MY MAC SO NOW IT'S THAT AND NOT THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE SCREEN
Monday, August 27, 2007
Seven ingredients of me!
Mariuca tagged me for this meme called the 7 P's, which was created by WVB to learn more about the blogs they read on a regular basis. So here are My 7 Ps.
Passion:
Purpose:
Keep Evolving
Pursuit:
Knowledge
Knowledge
Position:
Trying to ascend
Pummelling:
My Laziness & procrastination [at least trying to]
My Laziness & procrastination [at least trying to]
Progress: S....l.... o.... w...
Why I love Blogging
I was thinking about what an amazing experience this has been. I never thought when I first started, that blogging would become such an important part of my life and would be so instrumental in teaching me to be aware of me, of other people and my relation in respect to them.
Without thinking about it consciously, I found myself imbibing the things learnt from blogging, the lessons others generously taught me by sharing their stories and opening their hearts. I learnt that sometimes we have to make the first move and initiate a conversation, and that perhaps the other person is just as shy as we are.
Man is a social animal and he does best in interaction with others he can’t be an island. But for those of us who cannot be as socially accomplished as others, blogging is such a blessing. Because here every voice is translated into words and the distraction of a physical self is not there. It’s you and your reader in an intimate bond of focused intensity on what you are saying.
Of course sometimes it’s easier to be a touched up version of yourself while writing and edit your flaws and mute them into the background and you always have the time lag to put yourself in order.
But this freedom to be who you are or who you want to be is liberating and is in most cases treated with responsibility and truth.
I have read in many blogs questions and doubts about the friendships formed here but to that I would say that’s a lot like any friendship anywhere. Here we share our innermost secrets and in the real world we share a beer.
The one thing that you learn is that no matter what you have felt and what you have gone through you are not alone someone else has been through the same if not worse and when you see them dealing with it with grace you are tempted to do so as well.
This post was inspired by getting a lovely award from The Twisted Sisters whose blog is unique… it’s funny, it's sad at times, it’s honest and brave and I want to say I love your Blog!
In turn I present this award to EVERYONE on my blog roll. Some are very new additions which I recently discovered and others are blogs from when I started...
I love all your blogs that's why I visit everyday!
Thank you for being a part of my life
My Blogroll
Without thinking about it consciously, I found myself imbibing the things learnt from blogging, the lessons others generously taught me by sharing their stories and opening their hearts. I learnt that sometimes we have to make the first move and initiate a conversation, and that perhaps the other person is just as shy as we are.
Man is a social animal and he does best in interaction with others he can’t be an island. But for those of us who cannot be as socially accomplished as others, blogging is such a blessing. Because here every voice is translated into words and the distraction of a physical self is not there. It’s you and your reader in an intimate bond of focused intensity on what you are saying.
Of course sometimes it’s easier to be a touched up version of yourself while writing and edit your flaws and mute them into the background and you always have the time lag to put yourself in order.
But this freedom to be who you are or who you want to be is liberating and is in most cases treated with responsibility and truth.
I have read in many blogs questions and doubts about the friendships formed here but to that I would say that’s a lot like any friendship anywhere. Here we share our innermost secrets and in the real world we share a beer.
The one thing that you learn is that no matter what you have felt and what you have gone through you are not alone someone else has been through the same if not worse and when you see them dealing with it with grace you are tempted to do so as well.
This post was inspired by getting a lovely award from The Twisted Sisters whose blog is unique… it’s funny, it's sad at times, it’s honest and brave and I want to say I love your Blog!In turn I present this award to EVERYONE on my blog roll. Some are very new additions which I recently discovered and others are blogs from when I started...
I love all your blogs that's why I visit everyday!
Thank you for being a part of my life
My Blogroll
- ..........why paisley????
- A Great Pleasure
- Amel's Realm
- Analysing It
- Circle of Friends
- Compassionate Council
- Blur ting
- Captain Picard's Jornal
- Crisis and Management
- Crows Feet
- fb!
- Fearless Philosophy for Free Minds
- Finding Life's Enchantments
- Gazing into the Abyss
- Greg's Brain
- Greg's Writing Blog
- Greg's Writing Process
- Intellectual Hedonism
- It's a Schmitty Life
- Looking Beyond the Cracked Window
- Mariuca - wishing on a falling star
- MeleVision: TV Junkie
- Mid-Life Journey
- Momma Mia Meaculpa
- Muffin53 aka empress Bee [of the High Sea]
- My Bucket of Parts
- Necessary Skills
- New Beginnings
- Old Things under the Sun
- Picking up Pieces
- Pixels from the Edge
- Psychosomatic Wit
- Quasar9
- Remedial Rumination
- Revellian
- Seiche
- Tales from a tree
- The Domestic Minx
- THE INK POT
- The Naked Soul
- The Real Mother Hen
- The View From Here - Mike French's Personal Blog
- Thought Sparks
- TorchWood
- Totally Pissed Off
- Unloaded
- W for Wonder
- Woman: God's Masterpiece
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Jogging to Beethoven
I discovered something awesome today. I was in the gym upstairs and usually while exercising I have dance music on, to be able to jog intermittently and at the end of the 45 minutes I am dead. Since I am not really regular I always end up a pushing myself too hard and the result afterwards is body in trauma and head spinning. Of course the feeling of accomplishment is there and the endorphins are making their rounds but you come back to your apartment feeling anything but relaxed.
Today I was listening to WGBH's podcast of classical music on my iPod instead. They were playing Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, commonly known as the Kreutzer Sonata. One of his best-known sonatas written for piano and violin. After which more Beethoven followed. I can’t tell you how amazing the synchronicity between the mind and body that followed was. I was so taken by surprise. Jogging was easier it wasn't the frenetic pushing yourself to do 30 more seconds – it was as if the mind was orchestrating the body in perfect movements and there was a feeling of calm. I was so surprised because although my electronic selection for my exercise routine does give me the energy. It is a very different energy from the one that I felt today. That energy is like the artificial Red Bull effect, today it was organic flowing like good chi throughout my body. I exercised far longer than ever and far more intensely but felt no strain.
The entire day my state of mind had been like a disturbed ECG report with spikes of irritation and crankiness. But at the end of an hour of the treadmill today I felt what a very creased pair of trousers would feel, if it could have feelings, after a bout of thorough professional ironing. I was fascinated, of course it’s not the first time I had heard classical music, but it was the first time I had paired exercising with it. So I researched into sound waves, frequencies and our bodily reactions to it.
Low frequency sound waves make us uncomfortable. The lowest are called infrasound, sounds that emanate from machinery and stuff in the house like ventilation and cooling/heating systems. Low frequency waves can cause symptoms such as nausea, headaches, fatigue, insomnia, vibration of internal organs and a feeling of oppression.
This is what I found on the net in an ezine article by Tania Gabrielle French …
On the other hand, certain high frequency sounds literally energize your mind. Scientists have found that sounds from 5,000 to 8,000 hertz recharge your brain’s batteries.
If your CD collection includes music by Mozart, Baroque Music or even Tibetan Chants, keep listening. In numerous studies, these sounds have been found to charge the cortex of the brain and stimulate health and wellness.
At 120-125 hertz you begin to hear the kick drums and bass guitar common to rock music. These lower frequencies produce the opposite effect - they drain us.
Why is this?
Because they have wave-lengths longer than we are tall, which is why lower frequencies are FELT as well as heard. You can feel this low frequency full-body sensation at dance clubs and rock concerts. Or from listening to most FM radio stations.
Since we are mostly exposed to low frequency sounds in the media, I strongly suggest you balance your brain and body by listening to high frequency classical music at least once a day. It’s easy and effortless – and great for you.
So next time you are exercising forget your usual disco/hip hop/dance/electro/techno collection and pick up Beethoven instead!
Today I was listening to WGBH's podcast of classical music on my iPod instead. They were playing Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, commonly known as the Kreutzer Sonata. One of his best-known sonatas written for piano and violin. After which more Beethoven followed. I can’t tell you how amazing the synchronicity between the mind and body that followed was. I was so taken by surprise. Jogging was easier it wasn't the frenetic pushing yourself to do 30 more seconds – it was as if the mind was orchestrating the body in perfect movements and there was a feeling of calm. I was so surprised because although my electronic selection for my exercise routine does give me the energy. It is a very different energy from the one that I felt today. That energy is like the artificial Red Bull effect, today it was organic flowing like good chi throughout my body. I exercised far longer than ever and far more intensely but felt no strain.
The entire day my state of mind had been like a disturbed ECG report with spikes of irritation and crankiness. But at the end of an hour of the treadmill today I felt what a very creased pair of trousers would feel, if it could have feelings, after a bout of thorough professional ironing. I was fascinated, of course it’s not the first time I had heard classical music, but it was the first time I had paired exercising with it. So I researched into sound waves, frequencies and our bodily reactions to it.
Low frequency sound waves make us uncomfortable. The lowest are called infrasound, sounds that emanate from machinery and stuff in the house like ventilation and cooling/heating systems. Low frequency waves can cause symptoms such as nausea, headaches, fatigue, insomnia, vibration of internal organs and a feeling of oppression.
This is what I found on the net in an ezine article by Tania Gabrielle French …
On the other hand, certain high frequency sounds literally energize your mind. Scientists have found that sounds from 5,000 to 8,000 hertz recharge your brain’s batteries.
If your CD collection includes music by Mozart, Baroque Music or even Tibetan Chants, keep listening. In numerous studies, these sounds have been found to charge the cortex of the brain and stimulate health and wellness.
At 120-125 hertz you begin to hear the kick drums and bass guitar common to rock music. These lower frequencies produce the opposite effect - they drain us.
Why is this?
Because they have wave-lengths longer than we are tall, which is why lower frequencies are FELT as well as heard. You can feel this low frequency full-body sensation at dance clubs and rock concerts. Or from listening to most FM radio stations.
Since we are mostly exposed to low frequency sounds in the media, I strongly suggest you balance your brain and body by listening to high frequency classical music at least once a day. It’s easy and effortless – and great for you.
So next time you are exercising forget your usual disco/hip hop/dance/electro/techno collection and pick up Beethoven instead!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
A Bizarre Thought/Question!
I have been thinking about the things we cling to - the memories that have such an effect on us that they become the glasses that we view the world with. The shit that happened to us when we were young, the shit we did to ourselves. Reading various blogs on how people unconsciously or consciously make decisions that they know will bring them nothing but pain and degradation made me wonder why we all react the way we do.
The 'broken' do it out of a sense of self that insists that they deserve the worst of treatments and that every bad thing that happens to them is because of how they acted in the past and that they deserve nothing but the worst and that is all they can handle or ever want.
But what happens when something terrible happens to someone in their past but their brain just wipes it out, except for a few haunting traces? Take for example a hypothetical case of a person who might have been abused as a child or have had some other horrible thing happened to them but they don't recall or remember it clearly. Maybe they have buried it so deep inside that except for a few flashes they don't remember anything else. They don't talk about it or tell it to anyone and even if they ever did, it would be in a passing sentence.
So what happens then - when you don't consciously remember something. When you have no particular person to hate or blame categorically? Does it affect your behavior subconsciously? If one blanks out a certain period in one's life and remembers just very distant glimpses of it - does the past then count?
Think about it if you can't recall the memory of pain or recall it faintly... how much does it matter? As much as you recall it?
If you can't remember what happened.... does it then count?
The 'broken' do it out of a sense of self that insists that they deserve the worst of treatments and that every bad thing that happens to them is because of how they acted in the past and that they deserve nothing but the worst and that is all they can handle or ever want.
But what happens when something terrible happens to someone in their past but their brain just wipes it out, except for a few haunting traces? Take for example a hypothetical case of a person who might have been abused as a child or have had some other horrible thing happened to them but they don't recall or remember it clearly. Maybe they have buried it so deep inside that except for a few flashes they don't remember anything else. They don't talk about it or tell it to anyone and even if they ever did, it would be in a passing sentence.
So what happens then - when you don't consciously remember something. When you have no particular person to hate or blame categorically? Does it affect your behavior subconsciously? If one blanks out a certain period in one's life and remembers just very distant glimpses of it - does the past then count?
Think about it if you can't recall the memory of pain or recall it faintly... how much does it matter? As much as you recall it?
If you can't remember what happened.... does it then count?
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Do you want to know a secret????
Ss...secret...The very word sounds so alluring. It's like being invited into a club where only very intimate friends are allowed to go. When someone tells you that they are about to tell you a secret - there is an immediate action. Both physical and mental. It's a visceral reaction.Your heart starts to pound slightly and adrenaline makes its rounds, energizing your senses. The mental effect is of course more subtle and happens on many levels. There is pleasure at being a secret keeper as well as a certain apprehension.
In my previous post I had talked about how we assign a complete imagery and various connotations to words and the word secret is another that fits the category. It brings a plethora of images and meanings to our mind.
When I looked it up in dictionary.com I got the following result
Secrecy
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source
Secrecy is the practice of sharing information among a group of people, which can be as small as one person, while hiding it from others. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controversial. Many people claim that, at least in some situations, it is better for everyone if everyone knows all the facts—there should be no secrets. The closely allied, perhaps even synonymous notions of confidentiality and privacy are often considered virtues. William Penn wrote, "It is wise not to seek a secret; and honest, not to reveal one."
Natural and sociological secrecy
Secrecy is built into biology. One reason for sexual reproduction and speciation may be to allow members of a species to share genetic improvements without those improvements becoming available to competitors . Animals, including humans (in some cases), conceal the location of their den or nest from predators. Humans attempt to consciously conceal aspects of themselves from others due to shame, or from fear of rejection, loss of acceptance, or loss of employment. On a deeper level, humans attempt to conceal aspects of their own self which they are not capable of incorporating psychologically into their conscious being. Families sometimes maintain "family secrets", obliging family members never discuss disagreeable issues concerning the family, either with those outside the family and sometimes even within the family. Many "family secrets" are maintained by using a mutually agreed-upon construct (an official family story) when speaking with outside members. Agreement to maintain the secret is often coerced through "shaming" and reference to fa
mily honor. The information may even be something as trivial as a recipe. There is nothing more decadent and appealing to the voyeur in us then to be invited to a secret... to glimpse into someone else's secret and share our own anonymously and that's exactly the brilliant idea Paisley has.
The Mode:
She has started a new blog called secret..secret...i've got a secret where you can anonymously drop off secrets all you have to do is just post an anonymous comment... it will be emailed to her and she will tell the whole world your secret!!!!!
I think its a great idea and it can be quite cathartic to let go of secrets in the cloak of anonymity. It's exciting because your secret is out there yet your identity still remains a secret. It's like you get to keep it and share it at the same time.
Kind of Cool. So hurry and email your secrets...
...we'll be the members of the club of secrets
Oh my how very glamorous!!
Of Tags, Memes and Awards
Let me start with an explanation and an apology - I have two deadly nemeses that follow me quite relentlessly [actually I have loads but these two are the ones who were the culprits in this case]... they are laziness and forgetfulness.
So I have been meaning to do this meme/tag I don't know the right phrase that Jean Chia from A Great Pleasure, tagged me with and it took a lot longer than I had anticipated.
So here goes... with apologies for the delay but the deadline was 26th August and at least I didn't miss that. I don't like to miss deadlines
The meme is about completing at least seventeen out of the following twenty seven sentences. For every completed meme before 26th August, Idham will contribute RM127.00 on your behalf to Darul Izzah Orphanage.
1. A person is only as good as ...
2. Friendship is always ... better if you work at it
3. To love is to ...let go of rationality
4. Money makes me ...
5. I miss ... my cats.
6. My way of saying I care is by ... doing something thoughtful
7. I try to spread love and happiness by ...
8. Pick the flowers when ...ever you want them
9. To love someone is to ... accept them
10. Beauty is ... vital.
11. When I was thirteen, what I remember ...
12. When I was twenty one, I remember ...
13. I am most happy when ... I have no obligations or deadlines
14. Nothing makes me happier than ...
15. If I can change one thing, I will change ...
16. If smiles were banned, ... the world wouldn't have nice looking people
17. Wouldn't it be nice if we could ... fly
18. If you want to ask me to smile while taking my picture ... you just have to point the camera in my direction;)
19. Money is not everything but ... it sure does make life easier
20. The most touching moments I have experienced is ...
21. I smile when ... I want to
22. When I am happy, I ... am great company
23. If only I don't have to ... then ... I'll do anything
24. The best thing I did yesterday was ...
25. If I ever write a book, I will give it this title ...
26. One thing I must do before I die is ... live [how utterly corny;)]
27. Doing this meme, I feel like ... I should've done it earlier
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The second meme was not that long ago and I have a valid reason for the delay, I wasn't in town. Mariuca awarded me the opportunity to dream about the things I'd do if I had a million dollars.
Hmm! Very interesting
If I had a $1 million - I'd travel the world over with my friends in style, invest some, give some to people who needed it.
Proposition: If you Have $1,000,000.00…………………………
Requirements: continue above sentences
Tag Mode: 5 blogger
1st - You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.
2nd - Let the blogger you want to tag know they been tagged by comment in their blog or etc.What They Do With Their $1 Million
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And now a special thanks to Mariuca who has two beautiful blogs and is a really sweet and caring person herself. She gave me a Nice Matters award and it came at the righ t moment when I was pondering over how sometimes in life it's the not-so-nice people who get ahead and how when you're nice people simply take advantage of your goodness. So thanks Marzie I needed to remember that sometimes its nice to be nice just because that's who you are...and some people do appreciate that
According to the originator of the Nice Matters award it is intended for “those that are just nice people, good blog friends, and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others, that are there to lend support, or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!”
So I have been meaning to do this meme/tag I don't know the right phrase that Jean Chia from A Great Pleasure, tagged me with and it took a lot longer than I had anticipated.
So here goes... with apologies for the delay but the deadline was 26th August and at least I didn't miss that. I don't like to miss deadlines
The meme is about completing at least seventeen out of the following twenty seven sentences. For every completed meme before 26th August, Idham will contribute RM127.00 on your behalf to Darul Izzah Orphanage.
1. A person is only as good as ...
2. Friendship is always ... better if you work at it
3. To love is to ...let go of rationality
4. Money makes me ...
5. I miss ... my cats.
6. My way of saying I care is by ... doing something thoughtful
7. I try to spread love and happiness by ...
8. Pick the flowers when ...ever you want them
9. To love someone is to ... accept them
10. Beauty is ... vital.
11. When I was thirteen, what I remember ...
12. When I was twenty one, I remember ...
13. I am most happy when ... I have no obligations or deadlines
14. Nothing makes me happier than ...
15. If I can change one thing, I will change ...
16. If smiles were banned, ... the world wouldn't have nice looking people
17. Wouldn't it be nice if we could ... fly
18. If you want to ask me to smile while taking my picture ... you just have to point the camera in my direction;)
19. Money is not everything but ... it sure does make life easier
20. The most touching moments I have experienced is ...
21. I smile when ... I want to
22. When I am happy, I ... am great company
23. If only I don't have to ... then ... I'll do anything
24. The best thing I did yesterday was ...
25. If I ever write a book, I will give it this title ...
26. One thing I must do before I die is ... live [how utterly corny;)]
27. Doing this meme, I feel like ... I should've done it earlier
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The second meme was not that long ago and I have a valid reason for the delay, I wasn't in town. Mariuca awarded me the opportunity to dream about the things I'd do if I had a million dollars.
Hmm! Very interesting
If I had a $1 million - I'd travel the world over with my friends in style, invest some, give some to people who needed it.
*** Start Copy ***
Instructions :Proposition: If you Have $1,000,000.00…………………………
Requirements: continue above sentences
Tag Mode: 5 blogger
1st - You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.
2nd - Let the blogger you want to tag know they been tagged by comment in their blog or etc.What They Do With Their $1 Million
What They Do With Their $1 Million
16.Nick will waste away his small fortune
17.Santa will give it all to needy children
19.Bobby will be on a World vacation forever
20.Seiche will Fix you but good
21.Barrett will do A LOT of Traveling
22.Jean Chia will open a 'pet's clothing cum cafe' store
23. Random Magus will travel with friends, invest and give to charity
23. Random Magus will travel with friends, invest and give to charity
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And now a special thanks to Mariuca who has two beautiful blogs and is a really sweet and caring person herself. She gave me a Nice Matters award and it came at the righ t moment when I was pondering over how sometimes in life it's the not-so-nice people who get ahead and how when you're nice people simply take advantage of your goodness. So thanks Marzie I needed to remember that sometimes its nice to be nice just because that's who you are...and some people do appreciate thatAccording to the originator of the Nice Matters award it is intended for “those that are just nice people, good blog friends, and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others, that are there to lend support, or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!”
Monday, August 20, 2007
What's in a meaning?
Have you noticed how we have assigned negative meanings to some words which by their definition are not but the connotation we give them seem to make them 'not right'. I was having a conversation with one of my best friends and we were talking about God and one of my favorite books, 'Mister God this is Anna', and I was explaining her how it said that God had to be empty.
'Mister god was a bit different from a flower. A yellow flower that didn’t want yellow light was called yellow by us because that is what we saw. You couldn’t say that about Mister god. He wanted everything so he did not reflect anything back; we couldn’t possibly see him could we. So as far as we are concerned Mister God is empty. Not empty because there was truly nothing there but because he accepted everything. Of course you could cheat if you wanted to; you could wear a colored glass marked “MISTER GOD IS LOVING” or bit marked “MISTER GOD IS KIND”, but then of course you would miss the whole nature of Mister God”
While I was explaining this to her I didn't have the benefit of reproducing it like I have here, but in the span of my explaining there was a pause in which the word 'empty' seemed almost sacrilegious.
And then we went on to define 'empty' and we realized that somehow the word 'empty' connotes something else. It's meaning is is nothing bad but when we hear 'empty' we immediately envision things like 'sadness', 'barren' etc etc.
'Mister god was a bit different from a flower. A yellow flower that didn’t want yellow light was called yellow by us because that is what we saw. You couldn’t say that about Mister god. He wanted everything so he did not reflect anything back; we couldn’t possibly see him could we. So as far as we are concerned Mister God is empty. Not empty because there was truly nothing there but because he accepted everything. Of course you could cheat if you wanted to; you could wear a colored glass marked “MISTER GOD IS LOVING” or bit marked “MISTER GOD IS KIND”, but then of course you would miss the whole nature of Mister God”
While I was explaining this to her I didn't have the benefit of reproducing it like I have here, but in the span of my explaining there was a pause in which the word 'empty' seemed almost sacrilegious.
And then we went on to define 'empty' and we realized that somehow the word 'empty' connotes something else. It's meaning is is nothing bad but when we hear 'empty' we immediately envision things like 'sadness', 'barren' etc etc.
Hey All
I'm back and its sooooo good to be back and I missed you all so much here's hoping you missed me a bit!!!!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Thank You & See You In 10 Days
There are moments when you are totally taken in by surprise but in a good way and this was one of them. I was reading Jean Chia's blog A Great Pleasure and I came across a really sweet post in which she was giving awards to bloggers - the special thing about this award is that it is personalized and one of the most unique ones I've seen. It's actually a smoochie and is personally created by her. So thank you so much for your kind words. I'm really touched {{a big hug and kisses}}
"Amber: I know of your existence through Woman: Gods Masterpiece. It was a great interview. From there, I've got to know that you are no ordinary woman. You are an inspiration to others. I've been wanting to know more about you. Glad that I have the chance now. :)"I'm going to disappear for a week or ten days, will pop in occasionally but probably won't be able to post. Going for brother-in-law's wedding tomorrow morning and will be back in a week!
Will miss you all... muahh!!!
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Johari Window
Hey! Sorry have been AWOL recently - was really busy with college, it was the week before summer vacations and a couple of other things were on my mind. The last course we had was quite fascinating really - it was called 'Sustaining Superior Performance', I know it sounds like a title out of a self-help book and the course was a lot like that, but it was great fun. The teacher was good and the classes quite unique, a mixture of practical exercises, games and just a little bit of lecture. I learnt a lot about myself, for example I learnt that I am really very critical about myself - my own harshest judge.
There was this exercise in which we had a questionnaire of around 40 questions and we had to fill it out, then we chose a partner and had a talk with them for 10 minutes, of course since we have been together for almost two years now we knew each other quite well. After that we had to fill the same questionnaire for our partners. In the end we had the two sets of questionnaire with us one in which we had assessed ourselves and one in which our partner had assessed us.
Almost all the class realized the point that I have been making for a long time i.e. 'What I think of me is not necessarily what others see me as'. I got proof in class
The concept of Johari Window is basically an exploration of the different personalities we have, the ones that others see and the one that is private to us.
Johari Window, named after the first names of its inventors, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is a communication model that illustrates human interaction - it is a way of looking at how our personality expresses itself.
A four paned "window," divides personal awareness into four different types, as represented by its four quadrants: open, hidden, blind, and unknown. Each quadrant represents different kind of personal information. The Johari Window is called window because the lines dividing the four panes are like window shades, which can move as interaction progresses.
The quadrant that is called ‘Open’ is our public personality, this is the face we portray to people and we know about it. The obvious things like ‘extrovert’, ‘talkative’, etc things that are obvious to everyone, including of course the physical aspect of it all 'fat', 'thin', 'pretty' and so on. All information that is open – things I know about myself, and that you know about me. For example things about me that you can siphon of reading my blog, the comments I leave, and of course all that I reveal about my feelings and my likes and dislikes. As we get to know each other better this ‘Open’ personality becomes more accentuated.
Known to self, unknown to others is the ‘Hidden’ quadrant; this contains things that are known to only me, the stuff that I don’t reveal to anybody. All of us while writing in our blogs decide how much we want to share and what we don’t want others to know. Things that we might be ashamed of, things we might want others to never know about ourselves. This quadrant we share with very few if any and even then there are things that we keep only to ourselves. The process in which I shift things from this quadrant to the ‘Open’ quadrant is called Self-disclosure, the process of opening the window wider, which to many of us is a very scary process.
For me the most fascinating quadrant is the ‘Blind Spot’, because this is where others know things about me that I don’t know myself, thus the name, 'blind spot'. I might think I am very introverted or socially challenged or whatever but others might think the opposite. I might think I am not a very good listener or I am lazy but others may have a totally different opinion. This is the quadran
t that made me realize that I am just too hard on myself. And since this is knowledge or information that we don’t know about ourselves it’s not something we are putting on as a show for others, its knowledge about ourselves that genuinely shocks us.
The last quadrant titled Unknown also called Grey Areas’ quite frankly doesn’t make any sense to me, as it is knowledge that I don’t have of myself and neither do you. Maybe this is the root of all our psychoses the secret behind our actions – the unconscious.
If you want to see an interactive model and practice it a partner check out this website interactive johari
There was this exercise in which we had a questionnaire of around 40 questions and we had to fill it out, then we chose a partner and had a talk with them for 10 minutes, of course since we have been together for almost two years now we knew each other quite well. After that we had to fill the same questionnaire for our partners. In the end we had the two sets of questionnaire with us one in which we had assessed ourselves and one in which our partner had assessed us.
Almost all the class realized the point that I have been making for a long time i.e. 'What I think of me is not necessarily what others see me as'. I got proof in classThe concept of Johari Window is basically an exploration of the different personalities we have, the ones that others see and the one that is private to us.
Johari Window, named after the first names of its inventors, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is a communication model that illustrates human interaction - it is a way of looking at how our personality expresses itself.
A four paned "window," divides personal awareness into four different types, as represented by its four quadrants: open, hidden, blind, and unknown. Each quadrant represents different kind of personal information. The Johari Window is called window because the lines dividing the four panes are like window shades, which can move as interaction progresses.
The quadrant that is called ‘Open’ is our public personality, this is the face we portray to people and we know about it. The obvious things like ‘extrovert’, ‘talkative’, etc things that are obvious to everyone, including of course the physical aspect of it all 'fat', 'thin', 'pretty' and so on. All information that is open – things I know about myself, and that you know about me. For example things about me that you can siphon of reading my blog, the comments I leave, and of course all that I reveal about my feelings and my likes and dislikes. As we get to know each other better this ‘Open’ personality becomes more accentuated.
Known to self, unknown to others is the ‘Hidden’ quadrant; this contains things that are known to only me, the stuff that I don’t reveal to anybody. All of us while writing in our blogs decide how much we want to share and what we don’t want others to know. Things that we might be ashamed of, things we might want others to never know about ourselves. This quadrant we share with very few if any and even then there are things that we keep only to ourselves. The process in which I shift things from this quadrant to the ‘Open’ quadrant is called Self-disclosure, the process of opening the window wider, which to many of us is a very scary process.
For me the most fascinating quadrant is the ‘Blind Spot’, because this is where others know things about me that I don’t know myself, thus the name, 'blind spot'. I might think I am very introverted or socially challenged or whatever but others might think the opposite. I might think I am not a very good listener or I am lazy but others may have a totally different opinion. This is the quadran
t that made me realize that I am just too hard on myself. And since this is knowledge or information that we don’t know about ourselves it’s not something we are putting on as a show for others, its knowledge about ourselves that genuinely shocks us.The last quadrant titled Unknown also called Grey Areas’ quite frankly doesn’t make any sense to me, as it is knowledge that I don’t have of myself and neither do you. Maybe this is the root of all our psychoses the secret behind our actions – the unconscious.
If you want to see an interactive model and practice it a partner check out this website interactive johari
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Judge Not???
These days everyone emphasizes that you should not make judgments or criticize anyone's actions and we are ‘judgmental’ if we find something that, we god forbid, pronounce any judgment on, silent or otherwise. We should mind our own business and judge not lest we be judged.
If I see something and make a judgment about it, does that imply that I think I’m more virtuous than the other person? Or I have less compassion? Or that I don’t understand the complexities of life and that there are no black and whites just shades of grey? Or that I won’t make the same judgment on myself? Or that I think I'm not capable of making that mistake myself?
I’m sorry but I don’t think that’s true…
Leaving out the whole debate of right and wrong being relative there are things that we see which are blatantly wrong because you know those are actions that will lead to consequences that will hurt innocent people unnecessarily. There do exist some actions that are reprehensible from any point of view. On the level of plain decency, on the levels of friendship, on the levels of personal trust.
The word ‘morals’ is actually derived from the Latin word; ‘mores’ meaning customs so can be used for men’s customary ways of judging conduct. If there exist cultures that appreciate innocent people getting hurt and lifelong friendships being betrayed, I don’t know them.
Forget ethics, forget religion, somethings are wrong on the deepest level of humanity. There are some actions that you don't care so much about the 'right', 'wrong', 'morality' or 'immorality' of them, you just shudder at the disrespect of another human being that it causes and you just pray to God that it doesn't happen to you or you don't cause it to others.
So go ahead judge me for being judgmental...
If I see something and make a judgment about it, does that imply that I think I’m more virtuous than the other person? Or I have less compassion? Or that I don’t understand the complexities of life and that there are no black and whites just shades of grey? Or that I won’t make the same judgment on myself? Or that I think I'm not capable of making that mistake myself?
I’m sorry but I don’t think that’s true…
Leaving out the whole debate of right and wrong being relative there are things that we see which are blatantly wrong because you know those are actions that will lead to consequences that will hurt innocent people unnecessarily. There do exist some actions that are reprehensible from any point of view. On the level of plain decency, on the levels of friendship, on the levels of personal trust.
The word ‘morals’ is actually derived from the Latin word; ‘mores’ meaning customs so can be used for men’s customary ways of judging conduct. If there exist cultures that appreciate innocent people getting hurt and lifelong friendships being betrayed, I don’t know them.
Forget ethics, forget religion, somethings are wrong on the deepest level of humanity. There are some actions that you don't care so much about the 'right', 'wrong', 'morality' or 'immorality' of them, you just shudder at the disrespect of another human being that it causes and you just pray to God that it doesn't happen to you or you don't cause it to others.
So go ahead judge me for being judgmental...
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Is there an Athena living in my head too?
This is something I've written in my Blogcataog profile so it's not like a new discovery for me - but last night it struck me again and each time it does, it's a shock. This is what I had written
We are the ones who will have maximum knowledge of ourselves because let's face it, we think about ourselves more than anyone else ever will. Yet don't they say that to be able to see things clearly we need to put distance in between?
We had gone to a friend's get together yesterday, and it was one of those days that I was feeling particularly antisocial and wanting to stay home in bed with a good book, not even on my computer, that was the extent to which I felt the need to be alone. Anyway I had to go. We reached and I noticed myself acting like a consummate socialite, laughing and joking and entertaining people and actually having fun. There were a few people I was meeting for the first time, naturally seeing me like this they assumed that I was a very social, happy, jolly person - an opinion that I do not hold true of me at all.
In the course of the conversation this girl mentioned to me how I was such a happy go lucky person and blah blah. Of course, I thought to myself, you are seeing me today, what would you know. I tried to acquaint her with my view of me and she just gave me a blank stare, I kept insisting that tonight was just one of those surprising nights.
Two people really can't see the same phenomenon, argue many - so if there's this divide between our perception of ourself and someone else's - which one is me? I know they are all part of us, the faces we put on and the roles we play, are facets of our personality.
Whether it's the pretend us or the social us or the snooty us, doesn't make a difference, because we know all to be part of our nature, but to people we meet once, that is the person that is real. So if I tell you, I'm this or that, and you meet someone who has met me when I wasn't like that, who would you believe - especially if you knew both of us for the same time?
This girl I met, who I will probably never meet again, has an image of me, which to me is the total opposite of me but it's the only truth she has of me and will remember me as that for however long she does remember.
And this is just one example of strangers, sometimes this divide is felt when someone who knows us pretty well reveals something about us and we get shocked - that's not me, we think. In those cases who do we believe? Do we doubt our own self observation, or do we doubt whether the other person has understood us, or is it that our thoughts do not translate into our behaviour?
Each possibility poses a unique problem of its own - if the other person has not understood us then how do we make them do so, or will it be an exercise in futility?
Or are they actually right? We know them to be rational and if they have reached this conclusion it would be after observation of our behaviour ergo it must be correct. Then this would mean that we don't practice what we preach.
The whole question of who we really are then becomes quite problematic.
Or is it the case that we see ourselves with rose colored glasses and aren't who we think.
Or maybe, we have an entirely different person who lives hidden inside our head like Athena in Zeus' head, ready to spring out fully formed, any time.
Just tantalizing us with glimpses but never truly revealing themselves either to us or others.
It's quite fascinating and a little bit spooky - I wonder if that person would look like us as well?
"I have now reached the conclusion that what I think of me might not be what others see me as".And sometimes the two might actually be totally opposing views. So who's right and who's wrong or is it just relative? I mean if you think about it - the person who knows most about 'me' should be me - it is I who live in my head not others, right?
We are the ones who will have maximum knowledge of ourselves because let's face it, we think about ourselves more than anyone else ever will. Yet don't they say that to be able to see things clearly we need to put distance in between?
We had gone to a friend's get together yesterday, and it was one of those days that I was feeling particularly antisocial and wanting to stay home in bed with a good book, not even on my computer, that was the extent to which I felt the need to be alone. Anyway I had to go. We reached and I noticed myself acting like a consummate socialite, laughing and joking and entertaining people and actually having fun. There were a few people I was meeting for the first time, naturally seeing me like this they assumed that I was a very social, happy, jolly person - an opinion that I do not hold true of me at all.
In the course of the conversation this girl mentioned to me how I was such a happy go lucky person and blah blah. Of course, I thought to myself, you are seeing me today, what would you know. I tried to acquaint her with my view of me and she just gave me a blank stare, I kept insisting that tonight was just one of those surprising nights.
Two people really can't see the same phenomenon, argue many - so if there's this divide between our perception of ourself and someone else's - which one is me? I know they are all part of us, the faces we put on and the roles we play, are facets of our personality.
Whether it's the pretend us or the social us or the snooty us, doesn't make a difference, because we know all to be part of our nature, but to people we meet once, that is the person that is real. So if I tell you, I'm this or that, and you meet someone who has met me when I wasn't like that, who would you believe - especially if you knew both of us for the same time?
This girl I met, who I will probably never meet again, has an image of me, which to me is the total opposite of me but it's the only truth she has of me and will remember me as that for however long she does remember.
And this is just one example of strangers, sometimes this divide is felt when someone who knows us pretty well reveals something about us and we get shocked - that's not me, we think. In those cases who do we believe? Do we doubt our own self observation, or do we doubt whether the other person has understood us, or is it that our thoughts do not translate into our behaviour?
Each possibility poses a unique problem of its own - if the other person has not understood us then how do we make them do so, or will it be an exercise in futility?
Or are they actually right? We know them to be rational and if they have reached this conclusion it would be after observation of our behaviour ergo it must be correct. Then this would mean that we don't practice what we preach.
The whole question of who we really are then becomes quite problematic.
Or is it the case that we see ourselves with rose colored glasses and aren't who we think.
Or maybe, we have an entirely different person who lives hidden inside our head like Athena in Zeus' head, ready to spring out fully formed, any time.
Just tantalizing us with glimpses but never truly revealing themselves either to us or others.
It's quite fascinating and a little bit spooky - I wonder if that person would look like us as well?
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
"Is it oblivion or absorption
when things pass from our minds?
- Emily Dickinson
Thomas Moore says when some new thought, feeling, or notion presents itself, we can't forget it or overlook it.
When we have invited it in or agree to live in its company, maybe then it won't be such a preoccupation.
It will be forgotten - not exiled into oblivion, but absorbed into being.
I'm pondering this over - where will they be absorbed? in the brain? in the mind?
meanwhile would love to know what you think.
When we have invited it in or agree to live in its company, maybe then it won't be such a preoccupation.
It will be forgotten - not exiled into oblivion, but absorbed into being.
I'm pondering this over - where will they be absorbed? in the brain? in the mind?
meanwhile would love to know what you think.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
A Belated Thank You!
Sorry for taking such a long time in thanking all my kind and sweet friends for these fantastic awards. I am so happy to receive them, as I write this I can clearly remember when I first started this blog and would go to other people's blogs and see all the friends they had and the wonderful camaraderie shared. I would be a little envious and now I can't believe that I too am part of such wonderful and caring circle.
It's so great and I'm so happy that I discovered blogging. It's become such an integral part of my life that everything that happens in the course of the day and all thoughts and internal debates that I have, immediately start taking the shape of a post with the appropriate headline.
I actually use everything learned from this medium in daily life as well, since I'm a 'schmoozer' here which in life outside the computer I'm not, I sometimes replicate things I do here, for example now I'll actually pick up the phone and call someone randomly much like going to a friend's blog and commenting.
So thank you again for making me a part of your life on the net!
HollyGl who is not only beautiful but also incredibly sweet and talented and the remarkable Rebecca from Pixels of the Edge bestowed on me the Creative Blogger award
This award originated with Christy at Writers Reviews, and is "for those who bring unique and creative elements to their blogs. For those who incorporate art, music, creative writing, photo's, and other beautiful visual effects into their website. For those who put a unique spin on things and come up with new ideas. This award is for the artsy, the funky, the inventor, and even the rebel. This award is for those creative individuals who stand out from the crowd."
The blogs I have chosen are either very creative or a showcase of creative things, so whenever you visit you are surrounded by pretty things
Tigergirletsy - She makes really funky unique jewelry which you can check out at her blog
In Cinq - What an amazing idea for a blog, Adria's in cinq pairs the visual with the literary. It is a collection of self portraits sent by different people
Mariuca's perfume gallery - It's all about fragrance in the 'scent sational scent stations' as she calls it. Marzi likes to collect miniature perfumes and this blog is the shrine to her collection. I think it's such a cool idea
Mike French - He's writing this great book 'The Dandelion Tree' and each new chapter get unveiled once he gets 25 diggs, not only is the book great so is the blog visually. You have to read the book
Done4Fun - Silvia's Sketchblog - This blog is an art blog and is a simply beautiful collection of the artists sketches
Find the rules at the end of the post
Seiche whose wonderful blog I recently discovered, gave me the Thoughtful Blogger award and reading the description I was really happy to receive this award, especially from someone who really is such a thoughtful blogger himself - a real gentleman.
The Thoughtful Blogger award was started by Christy at Writer's Reviews and this particular award is... For those who answer blog comments, emails, and make their visitors feel at home on their blogs. For the people who take others feelings into consideration before speaking out and who are kind and courteous. Also for all of those bloggers who spend so much of their time helping others bloggers design, improve, and fix their sites. This award is for those generous bloggers who think of others.
Reading the above description, these are the people I thought of, they fit one or all of the descriptions of a thoughtful blogger
Bobby Revell - For helping me out numerous times with blogging and especially with the recent technorati fave train
Peter Haslem - For acknowledging each and every person's comments and being one of the first bloggers to help me out with my blog
Greg Although he's expressed an aversion to awards, I'll still go ahead, for giving great input and fabulous ideas and answers to various questions
The Real Mother [For being the first one to ever comment on my blog and making me feel so happy]
Blur ting [Again for being one of the first people to welcome me here]
And now, the small print...
1) If you have received an award simply choose either the dark or light background image and save it to your files, then post it proudly on your blog!
2) Pass the award on to five other people, you can choose any of the awards from the series, you do not have to pass out the exact award you received. Choose whichever of the awards below that you'd like to give out. You can give out one of each or five of the same one, whatever you prefer.
3) You can change the size and color of awards to suit your blog, that's up to you, it's your blog, just leave the titles the same.
4) Please link back to this post so that people can read these rules and so that the meanings of the awards will not be lost.
5) If you feel that you or a friend are deserving of an award and no one has given one to you yet then email me at sayhitochristy(at)hotmail.com and tell me about your website!
It's so great and I'm so happy that I discovered blogging. It's become such an integral part of my life that everything that happens in the course of the day and all thoughts and internal debates that I have, immediately start taking the shape of a post with the appropriate headline.
I actually use everything learned from this medium in daily life as well, since I'm a 'schmoozer' here which in life outside the computer I'm not, I sometimes replicate things I do here, for example now I'll actually pick up the phone and call someone randomly much like going to a friend's blog and commenting.
So thank you again for making me a part of your life on the net!
HollyGl who is not only beautiful but also incredibly sweet and talented and the remarkable Rebecca from Pixels of the Edge bestowed on me the Creative Blogger award
This award originated with Christy at Writers Reviews, and is "for those who bring unique and creative elements to their blogs. For those who incorporate art, music, creative writing, photo's, and other beautiful visual effects into their website. For those who put a unique spin on things and come up with new ideas. This award is for the artsy, the funky, the inventor, and even the rebel. This award is for those creative individuals who stand out from the crowd."
The blogs I have chosen are either very creative or a showcase of creative things, so whenever you visit you are surrounded by pretty things
Tigergirletsy - She makes really funky unique jewelry which you can check out at her blog
In Cinq - What an amazing idea for a blog, Adria's in cinq pairs the visual with the literary. It is a collection of self portraits sent by different people
Mariuca's perfume gallery - It's all about fragrance in the 'scent sational scent stations' as she calls it. Marzi likes to collect miniature perfumes and this blog is the shrine to her collection. I think it's such a cool idea
Mike French - He's writing this great book 'The Dandelion Tree' and each new chapter get unveiled once he gets 25 diggs, not only is the book great so is the blog visually. You have to read the book
Done4Fun - Silvia's Sketchblog - This blog is an art blog and is a simply beautiful collection of the artists sketches
Find the rules at the end of the post
Seiche whose wonderful blog I recently discovered, gave me the Thoughtful Blogger award and reading the description I was really happy to receive this award, especially from someone who really is such a thoughtful blogger himself - a real gentleman.
The Thoughtful Blogger award was started by Christy at Writer's Reviews and this particular award is... For those who answer blog comments, emails, and make their visitors feel at home on their blogs. For the people who take others feelings into consideration before speaking out and who are kind and courteous. Also for all of those bloggers who spend so much of their time helping others bloggers design, improve, and fix their sites. This award is for those generous bloggers who think of others.
Reading the above description, these are the people I thought of, they fit one or all of the descriptions of a thoughtful blogger
Bobby Revell - For helping me out numerous times with blogging and especially with the recent technorati fave train
Peter Haslem - For acknowledging each and every person's comments and being one of the first bloggers to help me out with my blog
Greg Although he's expressed an aversion to awards, I'll still go ahead, for giving great input and fabulous ideas and answers to various questions
The Real Mother [For being the first one to ever comment on my blog and making me feel so happy]
And now, the small print...
1) If you have received an award simply choose either the dark or light background image and save it to your files, then post it proudly on your blog!
2) Pass the award on to five other people, you can choose any of the awards from the series, you do not have to pass out the exact award you received. Choose whichever of the awards below that you'd like to give out. You can give out one of each or five of the same one, whatever you prefer.
3) You can change the size and color of awards to suit your blog, that's up to you, it's your blog, just leave the titles the same.
4) Please link back to this post so that people can read these rules and so that the meanings of the awards will not be lost.
5) If you feel that you or a friend are deserving of an award and no one has given one to you yet then email me at sayhitochristy(at)hotmail.com and tell me about your website!
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